“Proposed change of National Zoo opening time to 8 AM eliminates a safe place to exercise before work. Keep the 6 AM opening time, which makes the Zoo a fitness resource for all the surrounding Washington DC neighborhoods. Walkers and runners are happy to help keep the Zoo secure by reporting anything unusual to the Zoo police.”

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Ok people, it’s not security from a ‘suspicious activity’ activity, it’s about security of the general populace while they have delivery/construction/zoo vehicles roaming around prior to opening so they can get their work done. WE are getting in the way of them performing the necessary work to keep the zoo running.

This is all about money, not “safety.” Zoo service vehicles are driving slowly on wide roads, hitting joggers is not now, and never was, a problem. But every opening hour costs money and the zoo has decided there are better uses for their limited finances.

I’m indifferent about the overall zoo hours. It’s silly to keep the entire zoo open for joggers. But this totally sucks for people who use the Rock Creek Trail to commute. Especially people in Mount Pleasant. The small loop around the tunnel will be closed requiring bikers/walkers/runners to use the narrow strip of pavement in the tunnel. And most dangerously the Harvard Street bridge will be closed requiring pedestrians to run across a busy section of Beach Drive with no crosswalk.
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I hope they can figure out a way to keep the Harvard Street gate open and the trail gates open for the normal hours.

I run the path around the tunnel regularly, and there are no signs posted that the path will have different hours. I think this is for just the Zoo parking lots/road and not for the pedestrian/bike path.

I think one of the issues is that, if you usually enter/exit, that path from Harvard Street, you’d have to cross traffic at Beach Drive to get out since the gates that provide access to the sidewalks that run through the zoo would be locked. I suppose that you could keep going until you reached Porter to exit the path, but that adds a bit of time to your commute.

I am happy to pay the zoo. I do so as a FONZ member and a supporter of some of their specific initiatives. Also, when I run through the zoo I do enjoy the animals and other exhibits. When use the adjoining trails, I am enjoying the creek, the woods, and the wildlife. These are all zoo-related activities.

More likely they want the public to pay admission to subsidize their running space. Checkout the GGW comments from when this was first announced. The walking trail issue should be fixed but ghere no need for the zoo to be an exercise area.

“But, but, but . . . that’s where we RUN!”
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The most ridiculous comment in the petition goes to Kevin Heffel of Washington, DC, for, “The Zoo’s decision to close from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. effectively excludes District residents like me from visiting the zoo, because I am otherwise at work.” Congratulations, or something.

Besides this MoveOn petition, there is a more formal effort led by Jack McKay of ANC1D (Mt. Pleasant) to keep the trails open for commuters. Given the recent dysfunction of that ANC, though, I doubt anything will come of it.